Starbucks Gives Square Another Leg Up

Written by: Chris Ciaccia01/03/13 - 1:09 PM EST

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) --
Square's deal with Starbucks (SBUX) may have huge ramifications for the mobile payments industry, and by selling its mobile payment readers in 7,000 Starbucks U.S. stores, it'll give Square another heads up on the competition.

According to media reports, Starbucks will sell its readers in the stores, further adding to the deal the two companies agreed in August, whereby Square's service would be used in 7,000 Starbucks U.S. locations.

Square's readers are already sold in other retail locations, including Apple (AAPL) , Target (TGT) , Best Buy (BBY) , and Wal-Mart (WMT) . By adding Starbucks to its retail locations, this will only continue to put its services, software and readers in the forefront of consumers' minds.

San Francisco-based Square has been able to take the lead in mobile payments over other companies, thanks in large part to its retail presence. Square is thought to be doing over $8 billion in payment transactions annually, though that number could be higher given the its deal with Starbucks.

The small white reader, which users connect to their smartphones or tablets sell for $9.99, but new users are offered a full rebate once they begin using the reader.